First Night
by Jade Star
Summary: Spoilers. Based on the ending to 5x18. Snow is back home in Storybrooke. She has her son. Yet everything isn't as it should be. Just an emptiness where they used to be. *Complete* Please review.
It was raining the first night back in Storybrooke. Snow had almost forgotten what that had felt like. What rain had sounded like. It wasn't the harsh whipping kind that was a prelude to a storm, but rather a warm, lazy steady flow that seemed to hit right as the sun had set and shops and businesses were closing up for the evening, and people retiring for the night. These people that grew used to the tiny sleepy magical Maine town.

The people that were still considered amongst the living. They could laugh, cry, enjoy their morning coffee and simply just step back and enjoy life. They could look forward to sunrises and sunsets. Hearty dinners prepared with loving hands and enjoy quiet times after work or school with friends or family.

Snow couldn't. Her family couldn't. Alone in the loft once bursting with life now empty and lonely. The bed she shared with David lay empty. His side cold and uninviting. She couldn't bear to glance at Emma's empty bed either. She carefully adjusted her newborn sleeping son in her arms and watched his mouth move in his sleep.

After a warm greeting from Blue and the rest of the nuns, Snow drove carefully through the town, watching the shops and taking in the fresh air. She didn't want to go home just yet. She drove past the docks, seeing the Jolly Roger empty and her heart lurched. Then she drove past Gold's shop, her heart twisting for Gold and Belle, despite everything that happened between them.

School was letting out for the day, and the children's laughter made her think of Henry naturally.

Snow paused her car next Regina's sprawling white mansion. The house looked forlorn. Dark. No warm lights in either Henry or Regina's rooms. They were gone too. The final stop had been the loft. Carefully juggling a diaper bag, her sleeping son, Snow climbed the stairs, produced the worn key from her purse and slipped it inside the lock.

Silence greeted her. A thin film of dust seemed to settle over everything, invoking the loft of the Underworld. Snow got Neal settled first, and resolved she would give the house a thorough cleaning tomorrow once her nerves had calmed down. She quietly made her way to the kitchen, her stomach growled lightly, and Snow knew she had to eat something. She set about making coffee and toast, something light and quick to help her frazzled nerves.

She had just sat down with her snack, on the couch, aimlessly flipping through the tv channels when the rain had began to fall. A moment later, the tears that Snow had kept under wraps were falling as well.

David. Emma. Henry. Regina. Robin. Gold Belle. They were trapped down there. Preparing to fight Hades, whom no doubt was angry that someone else had escaped his realm. A realm where he was a mad god and anything and everything could be used to hurt her family. Snow wondered what they were doing right now. Were they safe? Planning their next move in Operation Firebird? Had Hades found out Snow and Ruby had gotten out and was planning something horrible in retaliation?

The tiny whimpering cry of her son rallied her from these dark thoughts. Snow turned down the volume on the tv and padded her way over to the crib which was only a few feet from her now, especially now at all times.

"Hey Neal." Snow soothed, watching the tiny baby wiggle in his sleep. "Mama's here. She's not going anywhere baby." Neal only whimpered in response. Snow wiped her eyes with the back of her hand and glanced out the window.

"Oh!" she watched as a shooting star blazed across the night sky, watching it flit across the sky and sail away.

 _David. Emma. Henry. Regina. Come back to me. Please._

She had to remember the family motto: Family would always find each other.

"Is that a shooting star?"

Emma looked up from her coffee, the others getting ready for another plan of attack first thing in the morning against Hades.

"Bloody hell. Sure looks like it." Killian said, following Emma to the window. Regina's brow furrowed.

"I don't think we can even see stars down here." she pondered. Emma nodded in agreement. "I don't think we can either. Hell, I don't even remember I saw any type of coloring to this sky."

"It had to be Grams." Henry said, leafing through the pages of his storybrooke, having looking over his recently completed entries.

"Well mom did get back to Storybrooke ok." Emma said, glancing at David who seemed to watch the shooting star with a fierce intensity.

"That she did." David said, pride evident in his voice. "She got back home and is safely watching your baby brother. Now, we have to join her."

"Then we should stop star gazing and think of a plan to get the hell out of here." Regina quipped, but David could tell she was equally touched by the strange phenominom.

"Family always finds each other. Now let's try to focus on getting back to her." Emma said, motioning everyone to join her at the kitchen table.


End file.
